ISLAMABAD: A monitoring mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday completed talks with economic managers of Pakistan on the country’s performance post-IMF programme.

The three-year programme under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had been approved by the IMF executive board in September 2013, weeks after the first budget for 2013-14 of the Nawaz Sharif government.

According to the finance ministry, post-programme monitoring is an annual feature for countries graduating from an IMF programme whereby overall economic conditions of a member country that owes funds to the IMF are monitored and a report is presented to the executive board.

The last mission-level team of IMF had visited in late 2013, and the current visit took place after a gap of over three years, which reflected improved security conditions as well as the economic performance of the country and growing trust of the international community.

At the talks, Secretary Finance, Shahid Mahmood led the Pakistani team while the IMF team was led by Harald Finger.

The finance secretary informed the IMF mission that the government has set its eyes on achieving 6 per cent GDP growth which is inclusive, pro-poor and sustainable.

He also briefed the IMF team on the recent successful launch of sukuk and Euro bond. Discussions covered a host of areas including macro-economic situation, developments in energy, fiscal, financial, monetary and social sectors.

The finance secretary shared with the IMF delegation an overview of the national economy, stating that it was on track and key indicators were moving in a positive direction.

He mentioned that significant growth has been achieved in revenue generation during the current fiscal year, and said that Pakistan has achieved fiscal consolidation without compromising on expenditures on development and social protection.

The IMF mission appreciated Pakistan’s efforts in maintaining macro-economic stability and noted impressive economic growth in Pakistan despite multiple challenges.

The mission held talks with Governor State Bank, Tariq Bajwa on Friday. Over the week, the mission also held meetings with senior officials of the ministries of commerce and railways, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Ogra and SECP. Besides, technical level talks were also held in the Planning Commission, FBR, BISP and Nepra.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017